War for Remnant
by TheFaceofaHero
Summary: The Autobot-Decepticon war has finally reached Remnant, and team RWBY are forced to work together with a dysfunctional group of Autobots led by Rodimus to protect the four kingdoms from the wrath of Megatron and his Decepticons.
1. Chapter 1

Remnant was a planet populated by humans and Faunus, humanoids with distinct animal features, far from the reaches of alien war. Our story begins at Beacon Academy, an institute dedicated to training future generations of Hunters and Huntresses. It was the duty of a Hunter to protect the four kingdoms- Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas -from the Grimm. Grimm were creatures of darkness that persistently preyed on the humans and the Faunus, and as a result the kingdoms were barricaded to protect their inhabitants from the terrifying monstrosities.

In a 1st year dorm, team RWBY were idly keeping themselves occupied. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, was rigidly maintaining her studies.

Blake Belladonna, the quietest member of the team, buried her nose in a novel of some kind that she appeared to be utterly immersed in. She let herself smile contently, the black bow atop her head shifting just a tad. The immersiveness, however, was tarnished once she overheard team leader Ruby Rose and her older sister Yang Xiao Long bickering.

"But I had plans! With my other friends!" Whined the blonde Huntress in training.

"What other friends? You hang out with us all the time!" Ruby argued, then pouted and looked away. She was annoyed Yang did not share her enthusiasm about spending the afternoon in Vale with the rest of the team. The young Rose intended it to be a team-bonding exercise, because, that's what teams did, right? They bonded, they became besties, they... just did stuff together. But nooo, Yang wanted none of that.

Yang teased, "Well, someone has to make sure the team leader doesn't get up to any mischief!" She swiftly trapped her younger sister in a headlock and, with a grin, gave her a noogie.

"Yaaaanng!" Ruby protested, gripping Yang's arms, half-heartedly wishing the brawler to let go. "Not in front of the others!"

"Would you two just shut up?" The siblings looked across the dorm. Weiss tossed a glare at them.

Grasp considerably loosening around Ruby, Yang remarked, "What's got the Ice-Queen all frosty?" She opened up her palm for Ruby to high-five, who instead chose to boo through cupped hands. The fifteen year old dodged a swat from Yang.

Weiss huffed, "Some of us are actually trying to get some study done," then resumed flicking through a history tome while also scribbling down notes.

Yang stomped over to where the Schnee heiress was seated. She inclined her head as she lazily ran an eye over the essay. "Not everyone can be as hardcore as you, Ice-Queen, when it comes to studying. Besides, it's the weekend. Chill, forget all this-" she paused, snatching up the paper from an indignant Weiss.

"What class is this for, anyway?"

"Professor Oobleck's. He gave us a six-page essay to write that's due for Monday. Not to mention the other assignment that Professor Port told us to carry out," explained Weiss.

"Which is?"

Blake finally spoke up. "Every team in 1st year has to capture a specific type of Grimm before the deadline. I'm sure that we have to catch a Beowolf, which most likely isn't as challenging like subdueing a Nevermore, which is what JNPR have to do."

Yang scoffed and crossed her arms, emphasising her bust with the strained fabric of her shirt. "What? What's the point of that assignment?"

"Yeah, why should we try to capture a Beowolf? We're being trained to kill Grimm, not take them alive," Ruby contributed to the conversation and plopped down on Weiss's bed.

"To quote our highbrow (and no doubt embellishing) teacher, it's 'to add to the challenge,'" Blake replied.

"Well, I know a team-building exercise when I see one. We're getting sidetracked... I was talking to Yang about spending some time in Vale. A bit of R&R never hurts anyone, after all," Ruby cheerily proposed. She jumped to her feet and a list manifested in her hands. "Here are all the activities I thought we could do together - as a team..."

The rest of team RWBY collectively buried their faces in their hands. The whole concept of group activities seemed so forced by Ruby Rose, hence the lack of enthusiasm.

* * *

If one were to turn on the news, they'd see the Vale newscaster Lisa Lavender discuss the rare occurence of two meteors entering Remnant's atmosphere. "Late last night two unpredicted meteors crashed into Vale. Scientists have been unable to locate the impact sites of these meteors so far-"

* * *

Elsewhere, a pair of Autobots stood in the War Room of their crashed vessel. The Autobots were a faction of autonomous mechanical aliens commonly referred to as Cybertronians. Rodimus was one such Cybertronian. Currently in robot mode, he listened to a report from Drift. Rodimus's red and yellow torso proudly sported a glowing insignia, and he carried goldenrod wings on his back. His frame was sleek, specifically modified for fast-paced combat and his alt-mode - his vehicle mode - mirrored those exact qualities. Triple-barrelled cannons were attached to his forearms, and Rodimus's shoulders went higher than his own head.

In contrast, Drift had a white robot-mode. Swords were sheathed at his hips, and he rivalled Rodimus in terms of slim build. Wheels were lodged in his forearms. He bore orange highlights on his shoulders, thighs, knees and chest. He too wore his Autobot badge on his chest. " _Our Energon reserves, as well as our medical supplies and ammo, are dwindling. One Autobot is currently in a stasis-lock, and the Ark has been extensively damaged_."

Rodimus sat forward, tenting his hands. He tried to look pensive ('cos that what leaders did, right? When they were trying to reach a decision. Plus, he had to set a good example to Drift and the others.). " _How bad is it?_ "

 _"Rear thrusters are shot to hell and the engines don't have enough power to lift the ship off the ground. Not to mention the fact it split in two."_

 _"Everybody else accounted for?"_

 _"Yes, Captain."_

 _"So what mudball are we stuck on this time?"_

Drift read from a data-pad in his hand. " _The planet's name is Remnant and its inhabited by several lifeforms, primarily bipedal organics called humans and Faunus. They live in four,"_ Drift held up the same number of fingers, _"main settlements called kingdoms. The names of the kingdoms are-"_

 _"Pause for a sec. Is this all in our data-banks?"_

" _Er, no. Hate to say it, Rodimus, but we're stuck on an uncharted planet. All the information I have on Remnant was obtained through their World Wide Web."_

"W _hat about those creeps that attacked us earlier?"_

 _"Ah, good news: I know what they're called now, at least. The natives refer to them as Grimm, and well, there are several types."_

 _"Send me the report later. What else you got?"_

" _Population censuses and an overview of historical events."_

" _Pffft, laaame._ " Rodimus placed his hands behind his head and twirled in his chair. He stopped mid-spin, set his arms on the desk. " _Let Prowl deal with the statistics. Primus knows he overloads with joy whenever he gets new numbers to play around with. I swear, that bot is about as exciting as a wall - an actual wall,_ " he commented derisively while shaking his head.

Drift winced at his leader's crude choice of wording. He opened his mouth to continue, however, Rodimus spoke first. " _And you know I struggle with history! So, any intel on where the 'Cons are hiding?_ "

" _Got nothing on the whereabouts of the Decepticon warship. They must be using shields to avoid detection._ "

" _And us? Can they detect us?_ "

" _No, thankfully. That's been sorted by the others. Our own shields are up and running._ "

" _Good, good._ " Rodimus rose from his seat and walked to the door. " _Let's go see some sights, Drift. Get a feel of where we are."_

" _Just the two of us?_ "

" _Nah, that'd be weird. Bring Ironhide, he's good in a fight. We're leaving in five._ " Rodimus's figure receded into the darkness of the corridor outside the War Room, leaving Drift alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Two speedsters zoomed by, disobeying all manner of traffic laws. The junction behind them became a pile-up of collisions as other cars skidded and failed, operative word being failed, to avoid crashing into one another. Horns blared and drivers swore at them as they raced ahead.

::Got a plan yet, Captain?:: asked the white speedster with orange black highlights over his internal Autobot radio. This way no one, not even the Decepticons that were in pursuit of them, could hear them.

::Well, I definitely didn't plan on getting pursued by 'Cons in broad daylight, I'll tell you that.:: chirped Rodimus. ::They must have detected our heat signatures and then tracked us.::

A shard of shimmering purple energy struck the ground close to Rodimus, and the ensuing explosion sent him flying - while in vehicle mode. ::Okay, forget robots in disguise. That's a load of tripe. Drift, Ironhide, transform and engage!::

Another explosion shook the street, and pedistrians were fleeing, running and screaming for their lives. Rodimus shifted into his protoform and the first thing he did was wince after witnessing the state of the junction. A second round of artillery fire obliderated several vehicles, leaving behind a smoking scrapyard of melted metal and burning flesh. Organics always got trampled underfoot or ripped apart by stray energon blasts.

The source of the disturbance was a Decepticon tank, green and grey, which fired another bolt of energy at him. He dodged it and raised his arms, powering up the blasters pinned to them. Nearby, a ride and black Autobot, bigger than him, threw a punch which collided with a grey and purple robot's visor. The visored 'Con grunted each time Ironhide pounded his face in. " _Who needs master tactics when ya got fists bigger than a Genericon's_ _face_?" Ironhide quipped cheerily, taking a dig at Onslaught's infamous reputation as one of the Decepticons' top tacticians. He gripped Onslaught by the helm and slammed him face-first into the tarmac. Splinters flew everywhere.

" _That's funny, comin' from a bot with a brain module smaller than a turbofox's_ ," wheezed Onslaught. Ironhide snarled at the Combaticon, until a shot to his back felled him. The rotary that had downed Ironhide morphed into a robot missing a proper face. No individual optics, no mouth line. Just a visor and a mouthplate. This waa Vortex. He helped Onslaught to his feet.

Back to Rodimus, though. He was engaged in a tit-for-tat with Brawl, the big bruiser of the Combaticons. Rodimus sprayed the Decepticon tank with a stream of bullets, ducking and dodging every round aimed for his head. He took a running start, collapsed into alt-mode and revved his engine as he sped towards Brawl. " _Die, Auto-scum_!" screamed the tank, frustrated that he was landing none of his shots. Rodimus swerved, kicking up dust, to avoid a torrent of eruptions.

" _Heh. 'Auto-scum'. I geddit. You're funny, tank-treads. Should have done stand-up instead ofslaughtering organics. Would've come to your show just to - boo-yah_!" The Autobot captain transformed in mid-air and, with a clang, landed on Brawl's back, proceeding to pump him full of lead. Brawl rearranged himself into robot mode, and pulled Rodimus off of him. " _Oof!_ "

A few yards away, Team RWBY watched the chaos unfold. Faunus and humans charged past them, fear radiated off of them in waves that would no doubt attract the Grimm to Vale. Sparks flited as metal fists collided with metal faces. The coppery scent of gunfire, laced with some toxic (toxic to fleshlings) energon additives, wisped in the air all around them.

"Forget Grimm," said Yang derisively. "This is more insane than a full-scale invasion of those uglies."

"Guys," panicked Ruby, "what do we do?"

"We're huntresses," Blake reminded. "We help those in trouble." With that said, she flitted towards the center of the battle.

"She has a point. But how do we beat these things? They're bigger than a Nevermore and those things were huge!" Emphasised Yang. She noticed Ruby's downcast expression. "So much for some R&R in Vale, huh sis..."

"All I wanted was to do something fun with you guys," sighed Ruby. Yan punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, come on. We can make a team-building exercise outta this if ya want. But first, we gotta - "

It was then Ruby noticed the helicopter robot about to incinerate them. "Yang, watch out!" She used her Semblance to pull Yang out of the crossfire. The Decepticon crooned at them in an alien tongue before reloading his blaster. _"Aw, wouldja lookit that. Tremblling fleshlings. My second favourite, next to dead ones!_ "

The robot fired at the sisters, luckily Weiss was there to save the day. She returned fire with Myrtenaster, glaring up the mechanical being despite the fear threatening to overwhelm her.

Ruby whooped and cheered, "Go Weiss! Show it who's boss!"

Yang stood up and threw some punches with Ember Celica, her Shotgun Gauntlets. "Got any theories, Ice Queen?"

"Theories about what?"

"What these things are, duh." Yang smirked. "I'm thinkin', robots gone rogue."

"Right now, theories are the last thing I care about, Yang. We should get the hell out of here."

"And miss the fight? Didn't think so. C'mon, we're badass huntresses. We can take these things." Yang bolted just in time to avoid being stomped into paste by Vortex's boot.

Weiss summoned a glyph that she jumped on and leapt over the edge, directly freezing over the energon cannon in its grip. Vortex shrugged before battering Yang and Weiss aside with it. He tossed the gun away, priming his shoulder cannons.

Meanwhile, Blake was in the fray of things. Two robots were locked in a grapple before her. One was red and orange with a very expressive face (currently glowering at its opponent), and the other was emerald green with a visor and mouthplate. She ducked and rolled as a purple-red alien jet transformed and bore a hidious grin down on her. " _This puny organic is defiant! Watch me exterminate it_!"

Blake widened her eyes, skittering across the ground while null ray blasts showered down all over. " _How dare this filthy inferior creature resist the mighty Lord Starscream?! I will pulvarize it._ "

" _Don't let your ambitions rule your vox-box, Screamer. And you are definitely not my lord,_ " countered Onslaught, currently beating down Ironhide. Purple energon dripped from the corners of his mouth and Onslaught's fists.

 _"One day, Onslaught. One day. You'll see."_ Starscream brought his sword down an arc, narrowly missing the troublesome organic.

Brawl shoved Rodimus and crowed in satisfaction when the Autobot suffered a punch to the gut and three shots to the chest. He was flung back by the collective force. Then, something caught Brawl's optic.

An organic. It had two long things coming out of its head and it seemed like it was posing for something. In actuality, the Faunus was taking a selfie. Brawl's gaze slid over to Rodimus. _"Betcha ya can't save that squishee before I get to it."_

Rodimus grinned daringly up at the tank-former. " _A gambling mech, are we? Maybe we should play Full-Stasis another time. Well, I bet you're full of scrap."_ Rodimus was in alt-mode already by the time Brawl let rip a salvo of bullets, each loaded with a combustible vein of energon.

Blake whipped her head at the noise of revving engines, and horror gripped her heart. That red robot-slash-car-slash-whatever was going to kill that Faunus! She had problems of her own to worry about, though. The murderous jet was trying to waste her. Gambol Shroud shredded through the robot's leg armour. That was the plan: trip it up and incapacitate it. But Starscream was too quick for her. Missiles whooshed towards Blake, spat out from launchers on his shoulders.

Rodimus was a daredevil - he would freely admit that to anyone. The best way to save this stupid organic, he'd decided, was to swallow it up into his alt-mode. In practice it went like this: he adopted robot-mode, his T-cog grinding and whining in his abdomen, and then - and then, he resumed his vehicle form and the organic was inside, safe and sound. Except now Rodimus had to put up with a screaming and terrified out of its wits organic. He swerved and dodged and spun away from the incoming waves of fire, transforming and landing on his feet with one unconscious Faunus in his palm.

Blake caught glimpses of this from the corner of her eye. She forgot the jet-former (Bad idea, never turn your back on Starscream) and charged Rodimus. She was engulfed in an eruption, and Starscream cackled triumphantly. When the smoke cleared, there was no flesh, no blood left behind. Did it distintegrate? wondered Starscream. Then, there was a flash of dark fur (or was it hair?) and Starscream knew he'd been tricked. Ironic that the Decepticon with a love for deception had been decieved.

Blake yelled, "Hey, put him down!" as she ran up to the red robot. The robot turned to her and gave a beam. It was cocky, and it felt surprisingly friendly. "No prob!" She blinked, nearly tripping over some stray debris. It talked?!

The complying robot had set down the Faunus. It was huge, Blake realised for the first time. All of these robots were. This particular one's head was taller than her entire height. She felt stifled approaching it and taking the unconscious citizen from it. "Now get outta here," it said seriously. It sounded staticky whenever it spoke Valian, make no mistake, that was Valian it was speaking.

Over to Weiss and Yang, however. The copter-con was unleashing streams of plasma upon them. There was a whine and a groan, and a series of clicks and whirrs as a stream-lined white speedster assumed its proto-form and engaged Vortex in combat. The white Autobot clipped Vortex with his swords several times, slashing through Energon veins and nervocircuits. Vortex gasped and groaned as he sensed Energon and coolant seep through and dribble down his plating.

"Whoa," Yang simply uttered in awe. Weiss watched the fight play out, wondering what exactly it was. As soon as Drift gained the upper ground, he began to lose it, too. He swung his sword wide, and Vortex ducked back. A second swing of the sword, except this time, Vortex caught it in his hand. He pulled out a spare blaster, and while Drift was distracted, headbutted him. Drift grunted and stumbled back a few steps, almost crushing Yang and Weiss in the process.

"Hey!"

"Watch it!"

" _Smile for the bullet, traitor_ ," taunted Vortex. He took aim, and the first shot struck Drift's thigh. Drift whimpered.

Ruby caught up with Blake, and took the Valian she'd been carrying off her hands. "I can get him to safety faster!" Ruby assured as she hooked the guy over her back. It was easier to carry him like this instead of bridal-style. "Wait, Ruby," started Blake, looking confused.

"Hm?"

"...Not all of the robots are bad. Actually, I wasn't even the one who rescued him, it was - "

A cry of victory, and Rodimus had crashed into Onslaught. He vaulted over his shoulders, and the heat-seekers chasing him ended up exploding in Onslaught's face. _"Watch where you're going, foolish Combaticon!"_

 _"Oh wait, so it's my fault!? You're the one that shot me!"_

 _"If it weren't for you being a slow oaf, I'd have killed him already!"_

 _"Maybe you can't shoot for scrap, Starscream,"_ retorted the head of the Combaticons. He clutched a sparking chest wound. Starscream's heat-seekers had punctured more wounds in him than any Autobot attack ever had. Energon leaked from his injuries by the gallon. _"Urrghh..."_

" _Boss, you'll be okay. We'll getcha to a medic,"_ Brawl promised as he reached for his commander. He hadn't forgotten about the Autobots, however. One arm raised to blast at Ironhide and Rodimus, who immediately retaliated. Rodimus glanced at the blur blazing away from him, and watched the path of petals of roses fall.

He commented, "Your friend... is she doped up on something? Because no one should be able to go that fast."

Blake bristled. She lunged out of the path of an oncoming volley of bullets, executing a flawless cart-wheel. "You don't know anything about our world, do you? And who are you, anyway?" She ducked behind a chunk of high rubble with the giant 24 foot tall robot already crouching behind it.

"Us? Well I'm an Autobot, and we're the good guys!" Rodimus saw the red-black blur from earlier rush back into the action. Ruby chose to keep her distance from the jet/robot as she delivered shot after shot with Crescent Rose.

Like a pro, Drift flung his sword at Vortex and blade embedded itself in the rotary's left shoulder joint. Vortex was thrown off guard, and the intended kill-shot went wide. Drift parted his boots and hunched his shoulders.

" _Ironhide, go help Drift. I've got things covered here."_

Ironhide gave a nod and morphed into a robust truck, rolling at high speed. Yang blinked whem she realised what the white robot was doing. "Now's the perfect chance," whispered Weiss. "We can attack it from the rear while it's distracted..."

"Seriously, can't you tell it's trying to protect us?" demanded Yang, irritated.

The next thing that happened was unexpected: another robot, resilient and crimson, appeared behind Vortex and punched through his torso with his bare fist. Vortex juddered and his vox-box strained as he screamed. Ironhide smirked darkly, but his brief moment of triumph vanished as soon as Vortex dragged out the blade from his shoulder and impaled the big Autobot with extreme prejudice, right in the head.

" _Ghhkk!"_ Ironhide stumbled away, reaching for the sword with shaky arms. Vortex sneered, taking the opportunity to deliver a final blow. He scorched Ironhide's armour with high-velocity plasma. Then he went for the hilt of Drift's sword.

"No!" Screamed Drift, reaching out in a futile attempt to stop him. It was about to be the end of Ironhide. However, one small organic intervened by shoving Vortex back and further back with a series of gauntlet blasts. Yang roared as she leapt through the air amd punched Vortex's faceplate in, leaving a Yang-sized crater as a souvenir.

Vortex decided enough was enough. His vitals were dropping according to his HUD and he bore a great big hole in his chest. Time for a retreat. He assumed his alt-mode and got the hell out of Dodge.

Yang, too stunned to speak, regarded the retreating rotary one last time before smartly pivoting on her heel.

It was Starscream versus a meaningless Autobot and a pair of annoying organics. The battle turned aginst his odds when Rodimus yelled, " _Hey, Drift! Throw me your spare!"_

End over end turned Drift's sword through the air. Rodimus expertly caught it and used it to counter the Decepticon's own blade. He parried and blocked Starscream's attacks, resulting in an elegant song of blades, combined with the occassional shot from their cannons.

But Ruby just had to get involved. She blasted away at the winged robot's legs. His feet gave way and he toppled over. Starscream fired a streak of energy that nicked Rodimus's face, and he snatched Ruby up in his hand. Yang and Weiss, Ironhide and Drift all rushed over.

"Let her go!" Yelled Yang as Starscream crushed Ruby slightly with an evil grin.

"Now, now, let's be civil about this. I'll pop this fleshling like a grape if you don't let me leave. If you try and attack, I will kill it."

The rest of team RWBY tensed. "Her name is Ruby Rose, and after this I will kill you," Yang growled, "for trying to hurt my baby sister."

"Hm, its name doesn't matter. What matters is if you try to stop me from leav - "

Just a sceond later, a swirling tear in the fabric of space opened behind Starscream and a blue-and-red truck jumped out, morphed into a well-built Autobot with a crested blue helmet and a grey mouthplate.

 _"Pax?"_ asked Rodimus no one in particular. The others watched in amazement as the new arrival cleaved Starscream's arm off with his battle-ax and caught Ruby as she fell. He placed Ruby dowm gently before turning his sights on the howling Decepticon that lamented the loss of his limb. Yang embraced Ruby in relief while Weiss and Blake gave them space.

" _Starscream, you're outnumbered four-to-one. Do you surrender?"_ Pax demanded.

" _Maybe you should read him his rights. Not that he has any... being second worst con behind Megs himself."_ jested Rodimus.

Pax ignored Rodimus's insult. Starscream transformed into jet-mode and fled. _"Aw, too bad, Pax. It looked like you had him on the ropes. Guess we'll chalk it up to you being slow,"_ Rodimus taunted.

Pax sagged, and turned to the others. He held up a finger to his helmet. ::Ratchet, prep the medbay. We've got wounded.::

::Roger that, Pax.::

" _So, I take it Ratchet repaired the Groundbridge,"_ said Rodimus, about to follow Ironhide and Drift into the portal.

" _Maybe he should perform a check-up on your optics._ "

" _That your way of saying 'obviously'?"_ He saw Pax regarding the hesitant organics huddled together, looking at them with awe, relief and fear.

" _Yeah, they're comin' with us."_ Rodimus waved team RWBY over; naturally, the team leader was the first to get there. The others jogged over to them. "Whoa," murmured Ruby, fingertips inching towards the green tear.

"Don't touch that!" Weiss slapped her hand away. "For all we know, it's dangerous." Ruby rubbed her hand with a pout.

"Nah, it's safe. You're not gonna get infected or anything like that," replied Rodimus. "'S just a portal that'll take you to our base."

"Ohmigod, we're gonna meet aliens! That's awesome! Isn't that awesome, Yang? Blake? Weiss?" Ruby frowned. Her team-mates clearly didn't share her enthuaiasm.

Weiss tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Because you're targets now. Anyone who helps us is percieved as a threat by the Decepticons. Those guys you were fighting - they were Decepticons," said the Autobot captain.

" _As a matter of fact, I strongly object to bringing these natives aboard our vessel. For all we know, they're -"_

 _"Noted, and duly ignored,"_ Rodimus responded coldly. To RWBY, he instructed, "C'mon then! Chop chop! Off into the portal we go!" The portal swallowed them all up, with Pax being the last one.


	3. Chapter 3

"So... what? You guys are, like, aliens? From outerspace?" asked Ruby.

Rodimus watched the tiny life-form - a human, he reminded himself - gaze up at him in awe and wonder. He and Pax and another 'bot had taken to answering the organics' questions while Ratchet ran repairs on Drift and Ironhide next door. The four humans had already introduced themselves. Highlights included:

1\. Making fun of each other's names ("Prowl? Seriously? That sounds like a stalker's name. I bet you're a stalker." "And your designation is?" "My desig - oh, you mean my name. Yang Xia-Long, badass huntress, Ruby's older kickass sister and - " "I don't think I can pronounce that. Fact I find that combination of syllables to be unpronouncable.")

2\. The organic with the head of white had snootily introduced herself as, "Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation." Rodimus had replied drily, "Never heard of you." Yang had snickered as Weiss' face fell.

Discovering that the girl with the crimson hood was a weapons enthusiast. "You like guns?" "Are you kidding? I love 'em! Well, wait, I like other sorts of weapons too." Rodimus had grinned. "I think you and I are going to get along fine. Wait 'til you see Ironhide's collection..."

4\. The blonde brawler thanking Pax for saving her sibling. "Oh, hey, you're pretty awesome." Yang had pointed at him with a snap of her fingers. "Thanks for the save." Pax had just given a stiff nod, not sure how to deal with these organics.

Ruby stared at Rodimus. The Autobot captain rubbed his neck. "Yeah, we are. We're Autobots. Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron."

"It looks something like this," added Pax, spears of light shooting from his optics and those light rays beginning to form an image. A rough sphere of metal, tall spires erected from the ground, with a core of orange light embedded in its center. "Please note it's not to scale." Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake circled the hologram a few times, taking in the picture.

Blake reached out, but her hand fizzled through the imagery. "It's... beautiful," she hesitated.

"It was," said Pax in a mournful tone. "But now... it's more like this." The hologram glitched, reverting to a planet with molten metal wires and pools of sparks staining its surface. The core had dimmed drastically and several of the spires had been cut off.

Weiss wondered, "What happened?"

"War happened. With the Decepticons," answered Rodimus. "The 'Cons don't have a great PR going with any organic races - which includes you and everybody else on this rock."

"Those guys that attacked - "

"Yep, they were 'Cons," Rodimus confirmed with a nod. "And they're the ones who destroyed our home and want to annialate everything and anything that moves, talks and isn't metal. But hey, don't worry, 'cos they love murdering Autobots just as much," he finished derisively, folding his arms.

"Why are you guys here?" Yang asked.

"Total accident. We were trying to escape the 'Cons, actually. Got into a big spacebattle, even. We both got dealt a crippling blow - our ship was split, and their engines gave out. So now, we're both stuck here. Lucky you, huh?"

"Lucky us..."

A new 'bot strolled into the room. A cylinder rested on his shoulder and tank treads were built into his legs. He had a kind air about him. He greeted Pax and Rodimus, and weird syllables poured out of his mouth. Rodimus gestured to team RWBY, who braced themselves.

The robot walked over. " _Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong."_

Ruby was perplexed. "Um, what was that...?"

"My, my," poured a posh voice out of the robot's voice. "Do these creatures not know the universal greeting? Fascinating! I must take notes. A secluded society, on the fringes of this galaxy..." He produced a tablet of some sort, and began typing rapidly.

"Percy, it's not a universal greeting if half the races we've spoken to have never heard of it," argued Rodimus, pinching the bridge of what was a mimicry of a nose. "Sorry for the awkwardness, but this is Perceptor. He's our Chief Scientific Officer, and the 'bot responsible for building the Groundbridge."

At the blank faces drawn from Ruby's team, Rodimus facepalmed. "Oh, right...! I never told you. It's that thing that created that portal that we walked through - it's how you got here."

"That's a lot of 'that's'," Yang pointed out.

"Yeah well excuse me, I'm still trying to get the hang of this Valian language... " He shook his head briskly. "Not the point. Percy's a genius who knows magic!"

"Captain, all I did was use the ship's engines as a power source for the Groundbridge. I didn't build anything, technically."

"And modest, too!" laughed Rodimus. "See, this is what I wish all my crew were like: hard-working, modest, and didn't question my decisions. Lookin' at you, Pax."

Orion Pax sighed. This exchange did not go unnoticed by Ruby and her friends. Suddenly, Rodimus intercepted a call on his private comm. It was Ratchet.

::Rodimus. You and I need to have a chat, and I've got a select choice of words for you...::

"Heh. I'll be right back. In the meantime, mingle. Get the opportunity to know each other a little bit better." And with that, Yang, Blake, Weiss and Ruby were left with the three most anti-social members of the Ark's crew.

* * *

Elsewhere, a metal tyrant stared down his Second-In-Command from his throne. The room was dark, and they were in the private chamber of the leader of the Decepticons. His form was majestic; the bodywork exquisite. He was truly a king, nay, a god. The purple sigil of the Decepticons was branded right into his chest. On his right arm sat a gigantic fusion cannon. One-of-a-kind, built solely for him. His optics blazed a furious vermillion, terrifying in the depths of the darkness of his room. Upon his head was no crown but a simple helm, plain and practical in its design.

This was Megatron, the leader, the founder, and the embodiment of the Decepticon cause. And snivelling before him was Starscream.

"You let them get away?!" he thundered.

Starscream whimpered, "M-my l-liege, you must understand that - "

" **SILENCE!** Do not back-talk me, Starscream."

"I wasn't back-talking you, you bucket-headed simple..." Megatron raised his right arm, and observed the fury evaporate right off of Starscream's face. "...ton."

"Know your place. To reiterate: you had the Autobots within your grasp - knowing you could have crushed them - and yet you failed. Why?"

Starscream mumbled something too quiet for even the mighty Megatron to hear.

"Speak up. I can't hear you when you whimper."

"It was the Combaticons' fault - they retreated and left me to face the Autobots alone, except _they_ weren't alone," hissed Starscream, still kneeling. He raised his chin defiantly, the tremours of his frame subsiding. "They had help from the fleshlings. And for a bunch of useless, abominable fleshlings, they could put up a troublesome resistance."

"That is prepostorous. Are you telling me organics are responsible for that?" Megatron nodded to Starscream's sparking stump of an appendage.

"N-no, of course not. I will send you footage from my visual feed so that you may view it at your discretion. Upload it directly to your neural network, yes?"

Megatron pushed himself off his throne and strode down the steps. "Rise, Starscream. The Decepticon elite must reconvene and strategize."

Starscream sent a helpless, not very discreet, glance to his missing forearm. Megatron gave a smirk. "Yes. You're going to the meeting like that."

Starscream sagged as Megatron stomped out.

* * *

Inside the Ark's medbay, the doors swished closed after Rodimus entered. Drift and Ironhide were lying on circuit slabs. He was saddened by the sight; he hadn't been able to protect his men. Ratchet, a robot decked out in ambulance colours with a white chevron on his head, which resembled horns, waved him over.

"Ratchet, you grumbled?"

"C'mere. I want to look you at this. Look up the 'Vale News Network' and tell me what you see."

Through his HUD, Rodimus accessed the online web Remnant had with ease, and tuned in to the Vale News. It was an emergency broadcast. A reporter was gesturing to the wreckage that was downtoan Vale. Pools of spilled oil and Energon were scattered over the road, and he swore he could see Starscream's arm somewhere in the background.

"They're going to find out about us," muttered Ratchet. "And soon they're going to be hunting us."

"Hey, you don't know that..." Rodimus reached out, but the medic slapped his hand away.

"How many, Rodimus?"

"What?"

"How many died in that firefight?"

"I don't know; the news report estimates it's by the dozens."

"Why - why would you engage the Decepticons in an area teeming with organic life?"

"I didn't have a choice. The Combaticons found us, Ratchet! If we hadn't acted - if we hadn't blown our cover - even more people would have died.'

Ratchet ex-vented. "And what's this about bringing organics into the base?"

A shrug. "Curiousity, mostly. What can I say, they put up a decent fight. And the 'Cons probably have 'em in their crosshairs, too."

"They helped you fight the Decepticons?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not, these organics are good for something other than getting trampled underfoot."

* * *

At Beacon Academy, Ozpin was sitting at his desk, gazing at the emergency Vale News broadcast. His hands were tented, and his mind whirred, much like the ginormous gears overhead inside the tower.

"It begins..."


End file.
